The gardens of Portugal are among the most cosmopolitan in the world. The product of Portugal's long seafaring history, they bring together ideas from East and West in a style that is—both in design and plantings—confident, flamboyant, exotic, yet distinctly Portuguese. In this beautifully photographed book, which BBC Gardens Illustrated declared would be "the standard English work on Portuguese gardens for many years to come," Helen Attlee tours 21 outstanding examples and recommends a list of 32.

"Some of us have been waiting a long time for a good, up-to-date book on Portuguese gardens, and here it is at last. Helena Atlee's text is a lively balance of historical information and telling anecdotes, somewhat lighter in tone than her book on Italian gardens of a few years ago. Photographer John Ferro Sims makes the most of those gardens that are well looked after, and is kind and clever when it comes to those (an alarmingly high proportion) which are a little ragged round the edges."—Daily Telegraph (London)

"How many of you know much about the historic gardens of Portugal? Perhaps you have seen a few at Sintra in its unusually favorable climate for trees and hedging. My mental image of them amounted to a few painted tiles behind stone benches and dazzling bougainvilleas between the gardens and hideous, encroaching modernity. I have been completely wrong but it has taken an excellent new book to open my eyes. As its author, Helena Attlee, aptly observes: 'Thousands of visitors are drawn to Portugal each year but few of them visit its gardens. Their loss is your gain.'... Her Gardens of Portugal is the essential companion, not least because she gives the addresses of the many good gardens open only by appointment. I hope their owners do not live to regret her generous research."—Financial Times (London)